Reviews

Helen Czerski’s The Blue Machine and Michael Malay’s Late Light win Wainwright Prizes for nature writing. Shortlists are announced for the American Library in Paris Award and the Mo Siewcharran Prize for unpublished fantasy by writers from underrepresented backgrounds. Amicus briefs are filed ahead of key Fifth Circuit “freedom to read” hearings. Canada’s Giller literary prize drops sponsor Scotiabank from its name after protests over the bank’s investments in Israeli weapons manufacturing. Plus, new title bestsellers.

A must-have for fans and a fitting tribute to an amazing artist.

Here One Moment by Liane Moriarty is the top holds title of the week. LibraryReads and Library Journal offer read-alikes for patrons waiting to read this buzziest book.

Notaro’s historical crime novel The Murderess fictionalizes the notorious case of Winnie Ruth Judd, who in 1931 murdered her two best friends and placed their bodies in trunks. The grisly crime was discovered when Judd attempted to ship the trunks via train from Phoenix to Los Angeles. Notaro tells LJ about Phoenix’s “boogeyman,” her research work, and how it feels to get inside a murderess’s head. 

Award–winning author Bernice L. McFadden and actor Ione Skye offer memoirs while biographies feature F1 race car driver Sir Lewis Hamilton and three free-spirited Victorians on a quest to decipher cuneiform.

Maureen Dowd shares profiles of infamous celebrities, Scaachi Koul offers another collection of autobiographical essays, and Giaae Kwon considers the impact of K-pop.

Chris Bohjalian writes a Civil War love story, Emma Donoghue offers a novel about an infamous 1895 disaster at the Paris Montparnasse train station, and Natasha Pulley reimagines the story of Dionysus.

Expect demand for the latest from bestselling and award–winning Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Colum McCann, and Torrey Peters.

This is a must-read for fans of queer romance and those interested in the behind-the-scenes world of video games. Tai’s storytelling is both fun and thought-provoking, making this debut a standout in contemporary romance fiction.